I have too many dried sultanas and I don't know what to with them......so it's cake baking time!This is a very old recipe I'm not sure where it came from....... it's just written on a messy scrap of paper stuck in my baking book (it's not even in metric measurements). It must be fifteen years since I made this cake so I have forgotten whether I let the sultanas cool before adding the rest of the ingredients. I settled for warm sultanas and hoped the sultana cake wouldn't go heavy.......It didn't it was a success and looks rustic, messy, yummy and perhaps just little bit too too tasty!Boiled Cake RecipeIngredients:1lb of sultanas1/2 lb butter3 eggs1 teacup of sugar (I use 1/2 to 3/4)21/2 cups flour1tsp baking powder (mine was heaped)1 tsp vanilla (I used a cap full)Method:Cover sultanas with water and boil 5 minutes then strain.Cut in the butter (put in with the sultanas, it melts)Beat egg and sugar then add in the sultana butter mix.Then fold in the rest of the dry ingredients.Cook at 325 degrees for 1 1/4 hoursI cooked my cake at 180 Celsius for 1 hour

Well I've finally sewn something and yes it's another skirt.......I really like making skirts they would have to be one of my favourite items to sew........My pattern of choice today was Simplicity 2655 Simplicity easy-to-sew pattern, view E and as the pattern states it is pretty much an easy sew. A very good pattern to have as it has six different skirt styles to chose from.......

I cut the sewing pattern out on a size 16 and then scaled the skirt back a size after the initial fitting. I'm no good at measuring things so sometimes I cut my fabric out to the bigger size pattern (just to be safe!). I figure you can always make a skirt smaller but not bigger.......( that's the beauty of muslins that I don't sew......you have an idea of the sizing before you cut into your good fabric). This A frame skirt sits about and inch below the waist line ( I must say it's very slimming style). The fabric I used for the skirt is a fairly stiff printed linen with a slightly open weave. The stiffness of the linen made the skirt very easy to construct, press, and fit.

Easy to sew Simplicity 2655 View E

The fitting of the skirt on the dummy makes
the waist look very big......

This is a longer version of this style and is made in
an open weaved heavy cotton which was very hard
to sew, my straight stitches started to look wonky.....

There is not much sewing happening in my little patch of paradise. That's because I think there hasn't been a lot of time lately or has it been because I'm so full of so many ideas that I'm getting nothing done..........I'm always just thinking about What will I sew next?.........If I wrote up my list for my sewing projects it would be so daunting (that doesn't include the heap of mending) I wouldn't want to look.........Where do you start?

But I just can't help adding to the 'I'm going to make this sewing pile' so my list of things continues to grow.........I think I've become a bit addicted to acquiring sewing patterns. I just keep buying them! My latest one is for a rag doll, it's the Happy Chibi Doll by One Red Robin. You can check them out here.

Lately I have had a sewing fan ........Firstly it was......'Can you make me into a Zombie?' (for Halloween). It had to be a certain type of zombie and we achieved the look he wanted with muslin cut according to his instructions (all this done at the last minute).

Yesterday it was 'Can you make me a Sunflower cushion?' It had to be 'this small, stuffed with cotton balls' ( he stuffs everything with cotton balls). I was presented with a drawn design carefully coloured in. I did try to put him off but he was very persistent...........So after school I was expected to make the cushion......There was one little problem though when I went to get the felt.......A naughty black pussy cat had been using the box of felts as a toilet........what a smell! The bright yellow was the worst hit, it smelt totally of cat pee. Yuk!.......I had no other felt so into the washing machine all the felt went...... It fixed with a little squirt of detergent and disinfectant. Then all the felts came out smelling just fine. Once it dried I was ready to start......

I'm not a quilter or an applique sewer.....So I just did the best I could and hoped it would meet the approval of the designer........I did pass with a smile and one very happy chappy took his little aqua dacron stuffed cushion into his room.

What was the wee pillow for? It was for SpongeBob. There's talk now about a Buttercup cushion.....but I'm just closing my ears!

It's five inches square it looks rather wonky in photo but it's not.....
The flower is made of felt and the cushion a polyester/cotton blend

This time I was off to a better start and sewing these outfits were a lot easier than my first try (see earlier post). I was well into into the swing of things this time and didn't make many mistakes.....I'm getting used to sewing the small stuff now.......I even used the Juki for the first outfit. Miss Dolly's clothes are from the sewing pattern Simplicity 2458 view B....Here are some more pics modelled by the dolly in residence.....Poor thing she'll be naked when they all go.......

Very easy to make...The top and pants are
in a stretch cotton knit and dress in a cotton fabric......
Trim too of course is cotton....

The headscarf I made a bit loose but it's still okay.....
Next time I'll use less elastic......

Have you ever bought a doll and promised you would make it clothes? I did.....how I kept putting it off all that dolly sewing.......Firstly I couldn't find a pattern for the doll, then I couldn't find material. Then I finally settled for a remnant and a pattern, Simplicity 2458 (one size 18" or 45.5cm).......I chose this one because it had a kimono like outfit and I thought it might look like a Japanese style outfit suiting the Asian doll I had bought.

Well I must say this was a real experience for me trying to make dolls clothes....There was cotton everywhere and I kept making mistakes....It took me three days to get it right. Who tries to overlock tiny seams with a wide 4 thread?....me! That was my first mistake, my second was not knowing the right or wrong side of the material and the third was not being able to follow instructions........There was a lot of unpicking........The fourth biggy mistake was I clipped a curve and it went too far into the seam and it was too late to unrip it all, I had made the whole jacket........I darned it (sort of) but I was so annoyed with myself for not seeing my mistake before I overlocked the seams!

My next problem was I didn't have the doll to gauge the fit. I had to rummage around through the garage to find my daughters old doll which I hoped was a close fit. I must admit she looks quite smart in the Kimono outfit, it matches her blue dolly eyes!

Overall the Simplicity pattern is fairly easy.......Of course you just have to be able to follow written instructions which I must say is not my strong point......The material I used is pure cotton and I sewed the outfit on my Bernina. I managed to finally fix the stitches and it stitched okay. Oh.......but was it so so tiny to sew, I kept thinking 'this is not going to fit that doll'..... I was all fingers and thumbs sewing the outfit.......But in the end I got there and was happy with how it looked, only I will notice my mistakes a little two year old won't........ Now that I have had experience of sewing something so small I'd like to make it the outfit again and hopefully not repeat my silly mistakes!

She looks so cute with clothes on.......Simplicity 2458 view D

The ribbons are just bits I had in my ribbon jar.....
I sewed the bows down so they don't sit as well as they should
I also lined the jacket with the same material

Another version of Simplicity view D......
This one was made a bit better and was much easier to
sew this time around.....the fabric is cotton

The last couple of days there was a lot of baking going on.........something for the wee man to take to school to share. His mother did it all, I just supervised and gave my opinion whether it was needed or not......If your keen for the Banana Cake recipe (which can be used for cup cakes too) just email me and I'll forward it to you.

All the cupcakes were well hidden from the black cat.........My cat always eats Banana Cake he bites the cake and licks the icing......If you bake a Banana Cake and leave it on the bench wrapped in plastic and covered up on the bench overnight a surprise awaits you in the morning........When you get up you find the cake half gone........This cat is so quick, you can just walk out the room and he's on the bench with his nose imbedded in the cake. Hmmm.......that black cat can smell a Banana Cake a mile away!

I've sort of managed to fix my straight stitches on my Bernina 801. I cleaned out the bobbin race (that was oily and dirty), oiled the machine in the right places and changed my cotton and needle. I cleaned out under the sewing plate (yes there was a little bit of fluff)....I put in an old needle ( I keep my old needles) put the thread through the left side of the tension disk and now it's sewing straight stitch again! I don't think it likes my other German brand of sewing machine needles or the right side of the tension disk........I think the Bernina prefers Schmetz, better yet Bernina brand needles. My one problem there is I don't know where the Bernina shop is anymore.......The city is not quite the same anymore!

Anyway for know it is sewing okay........but I think the machine is on it's last legs, my ruffler refuses to work with it. There seems to be no power in the sewing machine to make it go....It just whines and clacks now....my ruffling days are over for now.

Oh no my Bernina 801 is sewing wonky stitches.......She never sews wonky straight stitches! Must be the three major earthquakes she survived, she just sat on the table rocking away....... Now I'll have to take her in to be fixed.......what will I do if they say she's stuffed? I couldn't live without a mechanical machine.....just like I have to have a manual car, I like the control.....I know I have the Juki but I'm still learning to use it!

I've sewn a whole skirt for my daughter skirt with wonky stitches (and she'll notice!).......I need not have worried though because all she said was, "It reminds her of an apron" (now it reminds me of an apron too). The fabric I used was an inexpensive striped black/blue denim with no stretch.......The pattern I used was New Look 6789, a great pattern I have used many times.......I changed it slightly and just added some length to the hem and I also made a waistband and patch pockets. The fabric is fairly stiff so washing the skirt a few times will hopefully soften it........

The wonky Bernina 801straight stitch.....Grrrrrrr!

The apron like skirt....dark/black blue and cream fabric....
I'm not sure about those pockets...too late to unpick now!

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